The Abu Dhabi Government and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have added Wintershall Holding GmbH to the Ghasha ultra-sour gas mega-project with a 10 per cent stake
The Ghasha concession consists of the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma and other offshore sour gas fields, including Nasr, SARB and Mubarraz. Wintershall will contribute 10 per cent of the project capital and operational development expenses.
Germany’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer – and a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF, the world’s largest chemicals company by sales – joins Italy’s Eni as partners with ADNOC in the project. Eni was awarded a 25 per cent stake in the Ghasha concession earlier this month. The agreement marks the first time a German oil and gas company has been awarded a stake in an Abu Dhabi concession area and underscores ADNOC’s objective to expand and diversify its strategic partnership base.
The announcement builds on the momentum generated by the Supreme Petroleum Council’s (SPC) approval of ADNOC’s new integrated gas strategy, targeted to unlock and maximise value from Abu Dhabi’s substantial, available gas reserves, as the UAE moves towards gas self-sufficiency and aims to transition from a net importer of gas to a net gas exporter.
Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO, said, “In common with ADNOC, Wintershall has extensive experience of appraising and developing ultra-sour gas resources in technically complex fields. It is a partnership in which each company will benefit from the experience of the other as, together, we optimize costs and ensure we extract the maximum value from all the available gas resources. It builds on our long experience of sour gas production and strengthens our ambition to establish a centre of excellence, in Abu Dhabi, for sour gas development.”
The Ghasha ultra-sour concession will tap into the Arab basin, which is estimated to hold multiple trillions of standard cubic feet of recoverable gas. The project is expected to produce over 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day when it comes on stream, around the middle of the next decade, enough to provide electricity to more than two million homes. Once complete, the project will also produce more than 120,000 barrels of oil and high-value condensates per day.
Mario Mehren, CEO of Wintershall, added, “Natural gas production in Abu Dhabi complements our existing portfolio in an ideal way. We have decades of experience to offer in safely developing sour gas fields. We will contribute our technical know-how, strength in implementing projects and cost-effectiveness, in Abu Dhabi, in the coming decades.”
In addition to developing the Ghasha concession area, ADNOC plans to increase production from its Shah field to 1.5 bcf per day and move forward to develop the sour gas fields at Bab and Bu Hasa. ADNOC will also unlock other sources of gas which include Abu Dhabi’s giant Umm Shaif gas cap and the emirate’s unconventional gas reserves, as well as new natural gas accumulations, which will continue to be appraised and developed as the company pursues its exploration activities.
